Balloon balancing toy

ABSTRACT

A balancing toy includes a post and an integral ring at the upper end of the post which captures an elongated balloon which extends generally at 90* with respect to the post. The balloon provides attraction to the young users of such a toy and facilitates balancing of the post. The large surface area and light weight of the balloon create resistance to movement of the post through the air and also provide a visible indicator to the user of the extent of deviation of the post from a plumb position.

United States Patent [191 Varga [451 Mar. 11, 1975 1 BALLOON BALANCING TOY [76] Inventor: Zoltan Varga, 2561 S. Clement Ave., Milwaukee, Wis. 53202 [22] Filed: June 24, 1974 [21] Appl. No.: 482,384

[52] US. Cl. 273/1 R, 46/88 [51] Int. Cl. A631? 9/00 [58] Field of Search 273/1 R; 46/88 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,922,252 1/1960 Van Dam et a1. 46/88 3,081,999 3/1963 Harris 273/1 R 3,202,424 8/1965 Patterson 273/1 R 3,267,604 8/1966 Goldsmith 46/88 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 849,939 8/1939 France 46/88 OTHER PUBLICATIONS Juggling by Dittrich, 1967, pp. 87 and 88,

Primary Examiner-Paul E. Shapiro Attorney, Agent, or FirmHenry C. Fuller [57] ABSTRACT A balancing toy includes a post and an integral ring at the upper end of the post which captures an elongated balloon which extends generally at 90 with respect to the post. The balloon provides attraction to the young users of such a toy and facilitates balancing of the post. The large surface area and light weight of the balloon create resistance to movement of the post through the air and also provide a visible indicator to the user of the extent of deviation of the post from a plumb position.

3 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures PATENIEUMARI 1 1975 3', 870.298

BALLOON BALANCING TOY SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The invention provides a balancing toy which is attractive and interesting to use as compared with merely the balancing of a stick on ones finger. In addition, the use of a loop at one end of the post which captures a balloon which is inflated in place, provides enhanced balancing capability for the user because of the large surface area of the balloon which resists movement of the post from a plumb balanced position. The negligible gravity of the balloon does not materially raise the center of gravity of the post and thus does not affect the balancing property of the toy. The balloon desirably includes marking or indicia centered intermediate the ends of the balloon to enable the balloon to be centered in the ring. The balloon also desirably includes arrows which are positioned at a location where they are visible to the child when the post, for instance, is being balanced on the forehead or nose. One arrow can be white and the other black and thus, when the post tilts in one direction, the observed arrow will indicate the direction of deviation from plumb to cause the user to make the appropriate bodily movement to compensate for the deviation. The post also can be provided with a rubber button at the lower end for the comfort of the user. The larger and heavier the button, the lower the center of gravity will be in the post, and the easier it will be to balance the post.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following disclosure.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the balancing toy of the invention supported on a finger.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the balancing toy of the invention supported on the nose.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the invention balanced on a forehead.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Although the disclosure hereof is detailed and exact to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention, the physical embodiments herein disclosed merely exemplify the invention which may be embodied in other specific structure. The scope of the invention is defined in the claims appended hereto.

In the drawing, FIG. 1 shows a post or column 10. The post can be a hollow or solid plastic tube or rod. A 30 tube has provided good results. A rubber or plastic button 12 at the lower end 14 can be provided for the comfort of the child. The upper end of the post is provided with a ring or loop 16 which can be integrally formed with the post 10. The post should intersect the ring along a diametral line. In practice, a ring of a diameter of 2% inches has provided satisfactory results.

The purpose of the ring is to capture and secure in place a transverse inflatable member 18 such as a balloon. The balloon has very minimal weight or gravity and thus does not raise the center of gravity of the post 10. The size of the button 12 also can be varied with a large heavy button 12 resulting in a lower center of gravity, for instance, at point 20 (FIG..1), and a smaller button 12 providing a center of gravity at 22. Consideration also can be given to having the weight of the button equated with the weight of the ring to minimize the displacement of the center of gravity which occurs as the result of the presence of the ring.

The balloon 18 has several functions. A prime function from the standpoint of interest of the child is the attractive appearance of the balloon, the bouncing that occurs when the balancing toy falls, and the adaptability of use of various colored balloons of various sizes. A balloon of 30" in length has provided good results. In addition, the balloon makes the post easier to balance. The large surface area of the balloon acting through the lever arm distance L resists deviation of the post from the stable equilibrium plumb position. Although a round balloon captured in the loop would provide some resistance or sail effect, there would be no appreciable lever arm to provide a moment of force about the loop which retards movement of the post from the plumb position.

FIG. 2 shows a modified embodiment of the toy in which the ballon is provided with one or more centering lines 24 which facilitate anchoring the balloon in the center position in the ring to minimize any imbalance which might otherwise be caused. In addition, FIG. 2 shows a balloon which is provided with an arrow 26 and an arrow 28. The arrows 26 and 28 can be different colors to provide a physical response signal to the user which quickly indicates the deviation from plumb of the post to cause a corrective response.

The post 10 is in stable equilibrium or plumb when the center of gravity 22 of the post is within a vertical or plumb line 30. When the post tips so that the center of gravity 22 is as shown in FIG. 2 outside of a vertical line 30, the post will be tipped to the dotted line position and the arrow 26 will be in an inclined position indicating that corrective response is required.

The balancing toy of the invention, in addition to providing a harmless toy, also is intended to teach visual body coordination.

What is claimed is:

l. A balancing toy comprising an elongated post, a

ring at one end of said post, and an inflatable memberhaving a longitudinal axis substantially greater than its transverse axis centered in said ring and captured by said ring.

2. A balancing toy in accordance with claim 1 in which the inflatable member is an elongated balloon which is provided with centering indicia to facilitate centering of said inflatable member in said ring.

3. A balancing toy in accordance with claim 1 in which the inflatable member is a balloon and in which indicia visible to the user is imprinted on said balloon to indicate deviation of said post from plumb. 

1. A balancing toy comprising an elongated post, a ring at one end of said post, and an inflatable member having a longitudinal axis substantially greater than its transverse axis centered in said ring and captured by said ring.
 1. A balancing toy comprising an elongated post, a ring at one end of said post, and an inflatable member having a longitudinal axis substantially greater than its transverse axis centered in said ring and captured by said ring.
 2. A balancing toy in accordance with claim 1 in which the inflatable member is an elongated balloon which is provided with centering indicia to facilitate centering of said inflatable member in said ring. 